A beautifully written portrayal of a Ukrainian family that perhaps resonates now more than ever.
A historical novel focuses on a mother’s search for her children in Ukraine following World War I.
In autumn 1919 Elvira Maria Andrushko and her two children, Ana and Sasha, wait to board a train from the village of Kos, near Kyiv, to Odessa. A young widow, Elvira Maria is seeking safety for her family when a rush to board the train separates her from her kids. Unable to follow them to Odessa until two days later, Elvira Maria frantically combs the city for her family as she struggles to make a life for herself. In the same building where she finds a room lives Michail Lukashenko, a 40-year-old puppeteer and artist (“He was strikingly handsome, his chin dimpled, his black hair still thick, his body lean and muscular”). He eventually takes the struggling widow under his wing and tries to help her find her children. Through Michail, the story connects to a variety of characters in Odessa that allows for the examination of the rising tensions in this city deemed safe: There are revolutionaries and brothel madams, street urchins and gangs. As months go by, Michail and Elvira Maria’s relationship develops beyond friendship. In Grow’s well-crafted novel, Michail is the most intriguing character, with his connection to his childhood companion Ivan Dashkevich, a Bolshevik, a high point. The author’s exploration of this male friendship is compelling and poignant. In addition, the book skillfully examines a variety of historical events, touching on the rise of the Communists in the early 20th century as well as the options for women and the displacement of families during this period. The constant search for Ana and Sasha could have become a tiring and repetitive thread, but Grow, over the course of the year in which the narrative is set, delivers a story full of twists and turns, gripping readers right until the very end.
A beautifully written portrayal of a Ukrainian family that perhaps resonates now more than ever.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9798988398202
Page Count: 348
Publisher: Studio 17
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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